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  1. Accessibility @ FDA

Accessibility Guidance and Checklists

Accessibility Guidance and Checklists

Federal agencies are responsible for ensuring their information and services are accessible to persons with disabilities. The Revised 508 Standards include not just IT tools and systems, but electronic content such as documents, web pages, mobile apps, presentations, social media content, blogs, and certain emails. To comply with the Revised Section 508 and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) requirements, accessibility checklists are needed to evaluate web page content, mobile apps and documents (i.e., Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Adobe Acrobat PDF) for accessibility.

FDA is committed to making content accessible to everyone. If you are submitting a presentation or document to FDA or need to have your content published on a FDA website, review the guidance below for formatting your documents properly for FDA and assisting our efforts in equivalent access and transparency. To learn how to create an accessible Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel or PDF document, select the appropriate link.

 

FDA is committed to ensuring its internal and external web content is both accessible and functional to everyone. If you are creating software, web content or mobile applications for FDA, select the appropriate link for guidance.

 

Web designers, developers, and content managers are critical in developing and ensuring web sites and digital tools are accessible to all users and that these websites and digital tools conform to the Revised 508 Standards and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, Level AA. The policy and standards for the accessibility of FDA web sites are set by our parent, the Department of Health and Human Services, which determines how the regulations published by the US Access Board will be put into effect. Web designers, developers, and content managers must adhere to these policies:

 

  • HHS policies: provides an overview of the department’s policies.
  • HHS web standards: applies to all department web sites.
  • Section508.gov: provides information on the Section 508 law, standards, frequently asked questions, tools, resources, and news.
  • U.S. Access Board: provides information about the ICT Accessibility 508 Standards and 255 Guidelines.

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